RIO DE JANEIRO — In a chipper tone like a classmate comforting a soccer player after a lousy match, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro rang Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last month: “My friend!” the mayor said, “I’m calling to send you a hug.”
Da Silva, the labor leader turned-leftist president, had led the country during its boom years in the first decade of the new millennium, culminating with successful bids for Brazil to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
But three days before the call with the mayor, Brazilians were abuzz with a U-turn in the former president’s public appearances: He was escorted by federal agents for questioning over a beach property and countryside home that investigators said were thinly veiled bribes from state contractors.